Ukraine: Belarusian activist found hanged in Kiev park
A street in the center of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine (illustrative image).
© GENYA SAVILOV / AFP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Belarusian activist Vitali Chychov is dead, Ukrainian police said Tuesday morning after he had been missing since the day before.
He ran an NGO helping Belarusian victims of repression to flee their country.
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With our correspondent in Kiev,
Stéphane Siohan
The rumor of the disappearance of Vitali Chychov, the director of the House of Belarusians in Kiev, caused great concern from Monday evening, August 2.
He had not returned from a jog in the streets of Kiev.
On Tuesday, the Ukrainian Interior Ministry confirmed that the body of this 26-year-old Belarusian activist had indeed been found hanged in a park in central Kiev.
His cell phone and personal effects were found nearby, while Ukrainian police opened a criminal investigation, raising the possibility of a murder disguised as suicide.
Hunting opponents
Recently, Vitaly Chychov had mentioned to relatives that he felt followed.
And in this context, all eyes are on Belarus where a real hunt for opponents has been initiated.
On Monday, the husband of the sprinter
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya
, whom the Belarusian authorities wanted to repatriate by force from the Tokyo Olympics, believed himself in sufficient danger to flee Belarus.
It is precisely in Ukraine that he has found refuge, like thousands of his compatriots in recent months.
Vitali Chychov's NGO denounced a “
planned operation
” by the regime of President Alexander Lukashenko in order to “
liquidate
” a person who was helping those fleeing repression in Belarus.
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